Samsung Suddenly Confirms Galaxy Note 9 Upgrade

In recent weeks, leaks have not been kind to the Galaxy Note 9. Looking to reassure fans, however, Samsung has now confirmed the next generation feature its smartphone will have…

Speaking to The Korea Herald, Gray G. Lee, head of the AI Center Under Samsung Research, revealed the Galaxy Note 9 will be the launch device for Bixby 2.0. This may trigger sneers given the Bixby smart assistant has been widely derided since it launched with the Galaxy S8 last year, but not so fast.

Galaxy Note 9 concept was too ambitiousyoutube.com/DBSDESIGNING

Lee says Bixby 2.0 will be more than just a personal assistant. Instead, it will be an “artificial intelligence platform” which enhances the performance and user experience across the phone. The Assistant itself will also have enhanced natural language processing, improved noise resistance capability and faster response times.

It is also worth noting that, while it has fallen behind Google, Amazon and Apple in the AI wars, Samsung is deadly serious about artificial intelligence.

Lee says Samsung now has a 1,000-strong AI workforce and will consider merger and acquisitions of promising AI businesses. He also revealed Samsung expects to Bixby to be running on 14 million Samsung devices by the end of the year.

And here’s where the Galaxy Note 9 specifically, becomes intriguing…

Galaxy Note 9 - the potential and the realityIce Universe

In a new tweet, ever-mysterious, ever-accurate leaker Ice Universe states “Note9's UX design and interactive experience are worth the wait. Maybe we can call it Crown UX". Given Ice Universe has been arguably the Galaxy Note 9’s biggest critic in recent weeks, that’s high praise.

I am an experienced freelance technology journalist. I have written for Wired, The Next Web, TrustedReviews, The Guardian and the BBC in addition to Forbes. I began in b2b print journalism covering tech companies at the height of the dot com boom and switched to covering con...